Computer help!!!!

SwanseaSouthStander

Hi all,

Can anybody be kind enough to give me some advise about buying a new home pc. I have about £500 to spend. I've been looking at the
Acer Aspire M3100 AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000 1TB 2GB DVD-RW GF 8400 GS Vista Home Premium which costs £359 and a LG W1952S 19" LCD TFT Monitor for £123 on ebuyer.



Is this computer any good or do anybody know of any deals with a better spec of computer for the same price???


Many thanks

Ian

norbie

Hello,

For £500 I would recommend something like this - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145770 + any old monitor for around £100.

It has a 3 year warranty, but only 500GB (half the size of the one you suggested). I don't think you would use anything like this unless you're planning on doing a LOT of downloading or home videos.

That model you picked is alright though, I just prefer Intel machines as a personal preference.

Edit: This model has better graphics (the same as the one you posted) but only 1 year warranty. - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145782

chrissy21_2

What ever you do don't buy an Acer their customer service is kack! Or at least go into it knowing they are kack!
That's why they are so cheap I used to sell IT and they were dreadful!

toomuchcash

Hello Ian,

Buying a computer is a complex task with many factors to be considered, here is my advice and recommendations for you

Processor:
When it comes to the mid to high end processors (about £100) then Intel are consistently better performers and better value. This was not always the case as AMD used to offer better performance for the same price (hence why you will recieve some comments about that). The processor is the core of the system and will affect all tasks from bootup time to loading programs. I recommend a dual core E8400 or quad core Q6600. These are matched in price and perfomance (despite one having 2 more cores)

Hard drive:
As was said in a previous post, unless you are doing mega amounts of downloading (and storing instead of burning to DVD) then 320GB is more than enough. (300gb would store 428 dvd-rip movies (700mb each) or 60,000 songs (5mb each) or millions of images!

Memory:
2GB will run vista smoothly as well as multiple simultaneous applications, 1GB will most certainly struggle.

Graphics:
Some systems come with on board graphics which are very terrible and will struggle to play most modern games on minimal settings. Having a dedicated unit is probably something you want in your £400 build (-£100 monitor) and the 8400 GS suggested will be sufficient to play most games at decent levels of detail. Images of this card in action and what the graphics look like can be found at http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?/gpu_displays/xfx_8400_gs_256mb/6. It will also play movies back smoothly. I just want to add that unless you are a regular gamer or require extreme graphics then most cheaper dedicated graphics cards are sufficient.

To summarise:
Q6600 or E8400
320GB Hard Drive
2GB RAM
Dedicated Graphics

And after doing a little searching, i saw this smashing deal from dixons, its a refurbished system and i think (check first) it comes with a 12 month warranty.

Here are the specs:

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor Q6600
• 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache
• Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
• 2GB Memory
• 320GB Hard Drive
• DVD Rewriter
• nVidia GeForce 8400 GS Graphics
• 6 USB connections
• 2 PCI Slots
• 1 Firewire Connections

And the price........ £299.99 with free delivery (http://www.dixons.co.uk/product.php?sku=791738)

(The second best deal i found was http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145783 at £399.95 with 1GB more RAM and 180GB more hard drive space)

If this helped anyone atall then leave me thanks or send me a message!

P.S. If you need help on choosing a monitor too Ian then pm me

SwanseaSouthStander

Thanks to everybody whos taken time out to reply.

Ian